Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader
by hellioness
Summary: A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Helencheddar - Takes place during the fifth HP book.
1. Bench in the Rain

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M., a talented young writer who is only 11 years old.

=**= MERRY CHRISTMAS =**=

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

**CHAPTER ONE: BENCH IN THE RAIN**

Rain poured down on Lyra's face. The cold boards of the bench in the botanical gardens jabbed into her back as she tried desperately to stay awake after days and days of running. Pan was huddling between her shoulders, failing to keep warm. She shivered.

"So, are we living here?" Pan asked sarcastically.

"Where do you suggest we should go?" she retorted.

"I wasn't 'suggesting' anything."

"Well, you've gotta admit," he sniggered, "This is _way _better than Saint Sophia's."

"Yeah, '_speak only when spoken to... curtsy, now, chin up'_!"

They laughed, but soon sobered up, realizing that they couldn't live like this for long. They had nowhere to go. Dame Hannah was the new chairwoman of the Magesterium, and when they fled to Jordan, they had found that the Master was dead. To make matters worse, he had been replaced by none other than Fra Pavel. The gyptians got a head start and were now in Albania, so she had absolutely no way to get back to the North. The magasterium was after her. Their plan was to start over and the only thing standing in their way was her.

"We could swim there,"

"Yeah, and freeze to death."

"But... never mind."

They lay there in silence, their eyes fogged by rain drops. She shivered. They slid into a deep, uneasy sleep.

_**end of chapter one**_


	2. The Wooden Trunk

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M., a talented young writer who is only 11 years old.

=**= MERRY CHRISTMAS =**=

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

**CHAPTER TWO: THE WOODEN TRUNK**

Harry listened to the rain pour down on the window pane. He tried not to fall asleep. At least Dudley wasn't there to torture him about it. He kept having the same nightmare, Voldemort's flattened face, Cedric being murdered, the corpse staring vacantly at him.

Dust floated in the thin ray of moonlight. For once he ignored the burning of his scar. One more night to go. One more night to -....he slipped into his usual nightmare. Voldemort was brandishing his wand like a sword, about to strike. He desperately looked behind him as he began to get smaller and smaller, the dark lord was looming over him. Then he appeared in a long windowless hallway with one door on the end. He ran for it as his head swam. Then he lunged toward a doorknob. In the room he saw a faint glimmer behind him. The glimmer clarified and revealed itself as a bench. He leapt at it, instinctively expecting a way out, then he saw a figure sitting next to him on the bench. The thing was wearing black robes that made it look eerily like a small dementor. It turned around and looked him in the eye.

"Wake up, Wake_ up_!" Hermione screamed as she shook him viciously.

He was drenched in sweat and his heart was pounding rapidly.

"We're going to be late!"

Harry made a mad dash for the stairs. He was finally going to leave the old damp house and the shrilly screaming portrait behind. He was going home.

***

Lyra rolled over in her sleep.

"Will," she muttered, "are you sure your daemon 'ent a cupcake?"

She woke with a thud on the hard brick pavement at the edge of Platform 9. Her misty eyes opened lazily as she saw the high arched ceilings at King's Cross Station. She got up stiffly and stood quickly enough to see a few children about a year younger than her _walk through _the wall separating platforms nine and ten. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. More people walked through the wall, this time they were two boys and a girl. One boy having black hair and a scar on his forehead while the other had fiery red hair. The girl's hair was light brown and matted. She cringed when she saw that the boys' daemons, both owls, were kept in cages while the girl's tawny cat daemon roamed free. She followed the three through the wall and onto Platform nine and three quarters. The train was about to leave and she knew that they would spot her without them. She had learnt a thing or two from Will.

"Here are some reinforcements for your robes and books. I also packed you an extra wand, so don't come crying to me if you lose it," said an old woman to who she guessed to be her grandson. She handed him a small wooden trunk. He put it down for just a minute to fish his pocket for a ticket. Lyra slid over to the trunk and snatched it before he even knew what hit him. She knew she had just found a one way ticket out of her world.

_**end of chapter two**_


	3. Fred, George, and the Fugitive

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M., a talented young writer who is only 11 years old.

=**= MERRY CHRISTMAS =**=

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

**CHAPTER THREE: FRED, GEORGE, AND THE FUGITIVE**

"I could've sworn it was _right there_!" Neville pleaded.

"Well, just don't lose anything else," Hemione sighed wearily.

They boarded the train and Hermione and Ron soon departed. Harry slumped down into a seat next to Luna Lovegood. A girl in about her third year slouched next to Neville, but soon shot up and kicked her trunk out of sight. Something golden and furry quivered around her neck.

"Hey! Isn't that... never mind," said Neville, "She only packed my first year books anyway. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Her face was hidden by the hood of her school robes. Harry saw the darkened shadow of her face. The gears of his mind began whirring frantically. She was the figure from his dream. Was it really a dream? Why was she here?

"Who are you?" Ginny asked kindly.

"Lizzie Brooks," she said flatly, "and you?"

"Ginny Weasley."

"Where's you daemon?"

"My what?"

"Nothing."

"Hey, did we miss anything?" Ron had just come back, Hermione was behind him.

"Oh..."Hemione's voice dropped, "There's only room for one more, I'll just..."

Lyra emerged from the seat, "I'll just leave."

"_Will _you?" Hermione said hopefully.

Lyra twitched as she always did when she heard the word. She also cringed to the words cut, sever, Roger, and world. She looked around. The only place where there was room was a small compartment containing two boys about five years older than her that seemed to look exactly alike. They looked very similar to the girl across from her and the boy who had just arrived in the compartment, but she didn't have time to study ancestry. She sat down in the compartment. The brothers glanced at her, but soon got back to their conversation.

"So, he says to me, 'dat Roger will sever the best beef cut in the world!'" said Fred. Both of them began to laugh hysterically for a while, that was, until they saw Lyra finish a fit of twitching. They stared at her for a ling time.

"What?"

They didn't reply, but instead murmured to each other as if she had vanished.

"Not another mad one."

"Looks like she's got a jinx on her, poor thing."

"What?" Lyra pressed, "a girl can't twitch, can she? If _you_ knew..."

She looked toward the ground.

"Never mind."

"What? Hey, where are you from anyway?" asked George.

"Not here," she replied, "No, I'm from somewhere far away. You wouldn't know it. It's called Oxford."

"We've been there loads of times," said Fred.

"Believe me,you haven't."

They were all silent for what seemed like hours until Fred said, "Who are you?"

"Lizzie Brooks," she lied.

The other of the two pulled out a small glass orb that was hissing and vibrating furiously.

"We know when you're lying," he said, "Guess again."

"Fine," she sighed, "Lyra Silvertoungue. Don't say a word of that to anyone else, I'm Lizzie, got it?"

She closed the door to the compartment.

"Why, are you a fugitive?" Fred joked.

"You could say that."

_**end of chapter three**_


	4. The Last of the Sorted

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M., a talented young writer who is only 11 years old.

=**= MERRY CHRISTMAS =**=

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

**CHAPTER FOUR: THE LAST OF THE SORTED**

Fred and George left the Hogwarts Express still gaping, open mouthed at Lyra's story. Sure, many things had happened to them, but when they rarely did something truly heroic, they would always get praise, no matter how little. She was, apparently, the new devil.

Harry was starting to notice that Fred and George were acting differently after they left the train. They weren't joking and laughing as they always did, but walking silently with that girl he saw in the dream. Soon everyone sat down at the house tables. Dumbledore stood in front of them all and soon they all fell silent.

Lyra's eyes glittered as she stepped into what looked to be the dining hall. The ceiling was set to look like the night sky, in a method unknown to her. The entire academy was set as elaborately as any of the finest colleges. She was home.

Fred pointed his wand at the list of the students about to be sorted and began to mutter an incantation. Lizzie Brooks was hastily scribbled at the end of the list.

Harry and Ron were nearly dying of starvation when Dumbledore called out Zwiren, Steven, and groaned slightly as Dumbledore looked puzzledly at the list for a while before saying anything. He shakily called out, "Brooks, Lizzie." The girl that had sat down next to them on the train earlier stood up slowly and walked up to the stool in the front of the hall.

She tried as best she could to walk nervously up the isle, as she had watched all the other children do, Pan hidden in her slightly too large school clothes. Once she had gotten past the amazement of seeing a talking hat, she had suddenly become aware that she would have to lie nonstop, not that that was ever a problem. They lifted the oversized old hat over her head. She looked up at it in fear, trying desperately not to laugh.

"Hmm..." said the hat to her. "Your definitely not a Hufflepuff, Nor Ravenclaw either. You're very slick, I can tell; you think you can weasel out of any problem. You're also brave, though, braver than nearly anyone else in this room, in fact."

"Slyther-" the hat almost called out, before it said one more thing,

"Wait," it said,"You're a Muggle, aren't you. You don't belong here."

Apparently, not a single other person heard the hat say this.

"Don't ... say...a word." she muttered through gritted teeth.

"Ah... Griffindor!" it shouted.

The entire Griffindor table applauded as she walked proudly down. She sat between Fred and George, trying as best she could to keep Pan hidden. This was going to be a LONG charade.

_**end of chapter four**_


	5. Nightmares

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M., a talented young writer who is now 12 years old.

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

**CHAPTER FIVE: NIGHTMARES**

The dream had returned, but with more depth than before. He was running down the corridor again, the little blonde devil awaiting him. A creature came at him from behind the door, and the little girl laughed a twisted, high pitched laugh that boomed across the small room she had dragged him into. The little girl and the animal had morphed into one, and the newly created beast lunged for him again, hissing and snarling as it descended...

"Harry,wake up!" Ron shouted as he shook him.

Harry had groggily returned to consciousness and found himself soaked in sweat, his pillow torn to shreds, his fingers bleeding. He got up and decided to skip breakfast. He would confront the little demon when he was ready ... and she wasn't holding any heavy objects.

*****************************

As usual, Lyra dreamed of ghosts. This time they were lying against rows and rows of caged daemons. She was drifting down them, being a ghost herself. Will, her death, was following at her shoulders, staring at her through sunken, vacant eyes. She turned around to face him and found a harpy in his place,

"Liar liar liar liar!" it shrieked.

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the piercing voice that shrieked in her ear. She hissed at it, but it still continued. She couldn't fight much longer. She was losing, and she was giving up...

She gasped, and, of course, no one had bothered to wake her. Pan shivered against her neck. She slowly got up and headed out the door of her dormitory, having slept in her school robes. The boy with the caged daemon and the scap flattened against the wall as she walked past. Fred and George had been waiting for her, their faces looked oddly eager.

"Hey, we need a testee for the Fainting Fancies," said George.

"We'll pay!" added Fred.

"What are..."

"Here, just try this, you'll find out."

He handed her a toffee in a purple wrapper. She took it greedily, and swallowed it within half a second. She fell back slowly, and felt the cold hard wooden floor beneath her. A swear barely escaped her lips before it had all gone black.

She had returned to the nightmare and she was sure of it. The rows and rows of cages around her had returned. Both the death- Will and the harpies had one, and the human will she knew and loved was standing beside her, looking wildly around in fear. She smiled for a moment, and one of the ghosts reached out at her, a ghost of herself.

She gasped, and woke up sucking on an incredibly sweet toffee.

"What happened?"she asked dizzily.

"Sorry, the urge was too strong," said Fred, stifling a laugh.

She glared at him, pondering whether to attack. Pan barely stifled a hiss.

"Well," she whispered to Pan, " You'd better hide somewhere, so they won't suspect anything."

In an instant he crawled out the neck of her robes and scurried away. Having a partially severed daemon did have it's advantages.

Lyra stalked off, still a little dizzy, into the dining hall. Hopefully the people in this world were stupider than they looked.

_**end of chapter five**_


	6. Knowledge

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M., a talented young writer who is now 12 years old.

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

**CHAPTER SIX: KNOWLEDGE**

Pan decided to hide in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Room for the day. The rain was pouring outside and the thunder never ceased. He was glad to have the luxury of being indoors. It was a privilege he had gone nearly a year without. The horrid woman who was teaching was also entertaining to watch.

"Wow," he whispered, "it's just like being in Saint Sophia's again."

Pan still wondered why Lyra had agreed to go to Saint Sophia's in the first place. She was still taking the whole maturity thing WAY too seriously. Hopefully she had this class after lunch, so he could warn her. Ah, lunch, how they had missed it so. Despite the woman's horrid teaching skill's; Pan was sure that they had gotten lucky for once.

****************

"AH! You're right, Pan! She's worse than Dame Hannah!" Lyra exlaimed, "And thank's for the warning."

"Hey," said Pan, "I think something's up with that Potter kid. Apparently the magesterium's after him too!"

"Don't you mean the MINISTRY, and how do you know?" said George.

"We daemons have certain powers you wouldn't understand."

Lyra failed to stifle the hysterical laughter that came pouring out of her. "Right Pan, 'powers''

Pan turned his snout up in mock disgrace, "Really, Lyra. I thought you knew."

Lyra quickly sobered up, "No, really, Pan. I think they're connected! You heard what she said on the first day about progress being prohibited. She's totally a gobbler. Wouldn't be surprised if she were Mrs. Coulter back from the dead. It's sure the perfect reincarnation."

And with that they both began roaring in laughter; something they hadn't done for almost a year.

****************

Harry still hadn't quite gotten over last night's dream, and he could have sworn that she was watching him in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Somehow, he was sure she was hiding something, and that something was about him. He'd seen some sort of rodent in the corner of the classroom. No one had really noticed it, but it looked at him with very human eyes. His best guess was that she was an animagus, and somehow could be in two places at once. It seemed impossible, but impossible was a word he hadn't used in a long, long time.

_**end of chapter six**_


	7. Pride

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M.

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN: PRIDE **

Harry glared at her from across the table

"I really don't get why you don't just talk to Fred and George about it," Ron said thickly through a mouthful of kipper.

"That girl has been driving you mad since the first day of school."

"Yeah," Hermione added, "Or you can just confront this Brooks girl yourself so we can get on with our lives!"

Their conversation was halted by a chortling in the distance.

"Well, well, well," came Malfoy's drawling voice, "It seems as though Potter's found love. What's it like crushing on a first year?"

"You're disgusting," Hermione hissed.

"Shut up, Granger."

Lizzie Brooks turned around quickly, "You do know I can hear you all from here, right?" she shouted at them.

"Aw, look, it's your little girlfriend." Malfoy shouted.

"Will both of you shut you traps for a second? I know why Potter 'ent confronted me yet. He's too proud. The 'famous Harry Potter' has to figure it out on his own, so he'll get all the credit!"

"Apparently _someone's_ been listening to Snape," Ron said.

"Yes I have. You should try it sometime, and maybe you'll stop failing Potions along with every other subject known to man."

"And how do you know that?" Harry said defensively.

"Let me teach you a little lesson, Potter. Sometimes, the good guys don't always win. Some of us 'ent showered with praise every step we take. Sometimes we end up saving the universes a million times until we end up living on the street, twitching every time we hear words that remind us of the past. Some of us are living on the run, just waiting for the bad guys to catch us. Then, just maybe, you'd have the right to dignity!" Lyra shouted proudly.

Ron's next retort was silenced by a round of applause from Fred and George.

"That was beautiful," Fred said, pretending to wipe away tears.

"Yes," replied George, "That will go down in the insult hall of fame! Sorry, Harry, but she deserved that one."

"You showed him," said Malfoy.

"Shut up you little snot-nosed urchin," Lyra said cheerfully, " 'Cause I've got another speech prepared especially for you."

This gained another ovation from the twins.

They were all so enraged that they hadn't noticed Dumbledore standing behind them.

"Miss Brooks, may I see you in my office?" he said calmly.

"Oooh! Little Miss Spastic got busted!" said Malfoy.

"Shut up," said a voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

"What was that?" Ron said nervously.

"Ah, probably Peeves up to no good. Lizzie, please come with me."

##########

"Nice move, Pan. Now we're really in for it."

'Well, sorry! I was just sticking up for us."

"Sorry isn't good enough. Now what are we going to do. This guys gonna land us right where we started. What'll we do now, GO HOME?"

"Shh! He'll hear us!"

"Cockroach clusters." said Dumbledore as the gargoyle in front of his office door sprang out of the way.

"Do NOT flinch, do NOT flinch" Lyra whispered to herself.

"It's all right, you can flinch. Everyone does."

"Of course, because YOU have to know EVERYTHING."

As long as she was doomed anyway, she might as well have a little fun, right?

"I see your daemon has settled, quite unusual for a first year, eh?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

Lyra froze in her tracks, "H- how do you know about..."

"Well, I have to know EVERYTHING, don't I."

Lyra knew that no amount of lying would fix this. "Please, sir. I ent goin' back there. They'll eat me alive, I swear!"

"I have a feeling you'll be needed here quite soon, Lyra."

"You ent going to tell no one, are you?" she said defensively.

"There are many secrets in the wizarding world..."

She held her breath.

"But there's always room for more."

_**end of chapter seven**_


	8. More Surprises

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Rachel M.

Published on behalf of Rachel M.

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT: MORE SURPRISES **

Professor Dumbledore's office was unlike any she'd ever seen, even in Oxford. The paintings on the wall, like the ones in the hallways, moved freely on their own, and sometimes disappeared altogether. She supposed they were all the old masters, because there were so many of them. There was a large bowl in the corner, with a mass of swirling mist inside it. To her repeated horror, his phoenix daemon was kept in a cage.

"Relax," said Dumbledore, "Fawkes is simply a companion, my daemon is not visible."

"Okay, how do you know all this stuff about me?"

"Oh, I think you know the answer to that," he said, "Do you have the alithiometer?"

"Yeah..." she said, taking it out. "Pan, he already knows, you don't have to hide."

To her surprise, Dumbledore pulled a slightly smaller, more polished alithiometer out of his desk drawer.

"Here is your answer, Lyra," he said calmly, pushing the device toward her.

She gaped at it. She never realized there were alithiometers outside her world.

"So, have we come to an agreement, Lyra?"

She nodded. "I 'ent telling if you 'ent."

"Good, I don't want students to start doubting the knowledge I already have."

##########

Ever since the situation at lunch, Harry was teased by the Slytherins even more about Lizzie Brooks.

"Into younger women, are you, Harry!" laughed Pansy Parkinson.

Harry, along with his friends, kept their heads down for a while, something Harry wasn't used to doing. Lizzie's speech was starting to get to him, and not even Ron or Hermione ever reassured him that she was wrong. The truth echoed inside his head, THEY DON'T SAY THAT BECAUSE IT'S TRUE.

Lizzie talked to Dumbledore a lot, and he was pushed to the side. HE'S GOT A NEW FAVORITE NOW! The little voice insulted him throughout the weeks, and it became more and more apparent. He may have been the boy who lived, but living wasn't good enough anymore.

"Well, at least Malfoy has shut up!" Hermione said cheerfully.

"That's just because the Brooks girl has it in with Dumbledore!" Harry screamed, storming off.

Not even his friends could lie through their teeth for him. The truth was too blunt to ignore. He needed to find out more about this Brooks girl. She was definitely more than she appeared.

_**end of chapter eight**_


	9. Discovery

**Harry Potter and the Hidden Reader**

A Harry Potter/ His Dark Materials Crossover - by Helencheddar

Published on behalf of Helencheddar

(NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HIS DARK MATERIALS OR HARRY POTTER)

P.S. This takes place during the fifth HP book

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE: DISCOVERY **

Chapter nine is located here: http:/ / fanfiction. net/s/6294878/9/Harry_Potter_and_The_Hidden_Reader

You need to remove the spaces in the URL to go to the link.

######

**IMPORTANT NOTE: This story has now been published by the original writer, helencheddar, under her own account. It is discontinued here and will be deleted from this account soon. **


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